Embroidery Journal #4

Can you believe we are in March? This year is flying. I feel like we just moved to Indiana, but when I look at a calendar it has already been almost four months.

How long can I say we just moved to town?

In a little recap of what this post is all about, embroidering is my way of processing life. I can always tell what I am going through and what my current struggles are by the messages I sew. The time spent sewing these hoops rejuvenates my soul, gives peace, helps me slow down, and find perspective. Welcome to my latest journal entry.

When it comes to setting up house, I love it. I don’t think I was in this house two weeks, before I started painting it and making it ours. Maybe it’s being a creative, maybe it’s being a girl, maybe it’s that I am in the house all day/everyday, but I feel like it is wired in me to want to make it a comfortable, warm place that we find rest, peace, love, and joy while also being a welcoming and safe place to all who walk through our doors.

It is an outlet that I love. I believe God wired me that way. Often when I’m creating I feel the closest to God. He often speaks to me or gives me a picture like different basic supplies coming together to make something beautiful is just like the body of Christ. We can all use our gifts together to further the kingdom far better than any one of us on our own. When I get little windows to create and have some me time, I feel like I come back a better mom, wife, friend, sister, daughter, etc.

Yet, it is something I have to constantly keep in check. I want to use this gift/outlet for good. I don’t know about you, but I know for me it is easy to get lost on beautiful feeds, blogs and Pinterest and just want more. When I find myself browsing and it is not inspiring but making me lust for more…I need to take a break from it. When I get stressed and live by the to do list more than love, I need a day away from all social media, lists, and on the floor with my kids. When I get quiet versus having joy ooze from me, I have too much swirling around in my head, and I need space to prioritize what really matters.

I’m always looking for those little windows that show my heart is walking a dangerous line by my love for something that is also hurting me.

I often get asked about my style. I would encourage you to find whats you. Don’t try to make something work for you…that is not you. I love all those clean, white pictures and decor that just scream peace, but when I go to put a room together that is not what my soul is calling out. My biggest advice is to stay true to you. Your place will most be relaxing and peaceful to you…if you stay true to your taste. But, with that, don’t stop trying new things or stretching yourself to find the little part of you in there waiting to be released.

Ultimately, my Heavenly Father is so creative. From the smallest bug to the Grand Tetons, there is an exquisite world that we get to live in that HE created. He’s the ultimate creator and we are made in his image, so we are wired to create in some way. For some, it might be organizing their schedule, singing, skillfully reaching out to those who are hurt and broken… it doesn’t just have to be crafts. I feel we can all be creative with where ever we are. That’s why I’ll go down fighting that there is creativity in us all.

My theory is you can create a nice, warm home inexpensively. Most of ours is thrift store, created, or clearance sales. I pray that when you see my pictures and home, they do nothing for you but to inspire you. You can create a warm home for you too. If you are one that thinks you can’t create, I’d encourage you to keep exploring and trying!!!☺ Trying new things and mixing it up…can unleash new things in you. It’s a skill that needs practice and strengthening just like learning to walk or hitting a baseball. I’d say just in the last two years have I really figured out my style. Be brave, friends.

In the midst of setting up our new house, I am also purging like crazy. I heard this awesome phrase that I am going to mess up trying to recall. It was along the lines of ‘the state of our house, car, counters can be a window of what our heads and hearts look like’. They reflect the amount of thoughts, tasks, craziness we are trying to make sense of. I am guilty of having way to many disaster zones. I don’t want tasks and a perfectly clean house to define me. BUT, I am learning that I can have better systems that help us to stay a little more organized so all of life doesn’t feel last minute or messy. Simplifying can just create breathing room with less to keep up with or put away.

some random things I am loving…

snow (watching it fall I feel a peace cleaning over my soul)

tea (I drink hot tea all the time since we moved north)

getting color on all my walls

contrasting black and white with all my color

creating for my little shelf at a local antique mall

hanging with new friends

swimming (we got a YMCA membership and I’m swimming laps like I did growing up)

laying a bunch of craft stuff out and letting my kids go crazy

reading Caleb’s constant letters, cards, slips of ‘I love you’ notes

jump hugging my boo

watching Reagan dress up and dance

teaching Reagan to swim

watching J comfort and love on his new pup

hearing my kids giggle the belly roaring laugh

long games of Sorry

dinners with new community

hearing the basketball goal in our living room go all day long

essential oils

searching local small thrift shops with an awesome friend

worship

podcasts from Christine Caine

watching the stack of paperwork needed to get our foster care renewal go down

every minute with Matt

Embroidering helps me slow down, think, and find space in all the craze that goes through my head. What is it for you?

These hoops are literally my heart cries poured out. Since I have been setting up our new home, I have found the home phrases standing out to me. As much as I love making this our home, there is a peace knowing that it all doesn’t have to be perfect, polished, or out of a magazine. I believe this is not our home. We are just living and loving till we do go home. Thank you so much for reading, for journeying with us, and for being a tool used to continually encourage me. If you are interested in any of these hoops, please visit my shop.

***Do you embroider? I would love to see your embroidery journal! Let’s start a hashtag #myembroideryjournal to keep up with one another!**